Wiltshire Council staff will be up to £7,000 a year worse off after the authority "walked back" from a deal, union officials have claimed.

GMB say that Wiltshire Council broke an agreement made in June to avert strike action.

They claim it means traffic wardens will see a pay cut worth £2,000 a year and social workers will be £7,000 a year worse off.

But Wiltshire Council has strongly denied this is the case.

Keith Roberts, GMB Regional Organiser, said: “GMB members are scandalised that Wiltshire Council’s top bosses have walked back from a deal where their own ‘working party’ on terms and conditions had agreed to protect the pay of existing staff for the lifetime of their contracts.

“This deal was agreed in July, but the council announced on 9th August, that they were breaking their word. From GMB's point of view, this puts all options back on the table. 

“Staff in parking services have already taken two days strike action to oppose the pay cuts, but traffic wardens are far from the only staff affected. 

“None of our members can afford this pay cut – and they should not have to. 

“GMB is confident of a no vote from our members, then the ball will be back in the council’s court.  

“Wiltshire Council needs to start treating their staff with respect and understand the extreme worry they are causing with their threats of pay cuts.”  

Ballots are running from now until 13th October among the 300 staff affected by the pay cut.

The council have been locked in a long-running dispute with unions over the plans, which led to strike action earlier this year.

Terence Herbert, chief executive of Wiltshire Council, hit out at GMB's statement as "inaccurate and inflammatory".

He said: “We are once again incredibly disappointed by the timing and content of GMB’s latest inaccurate and inflammatory comments, which seem designed to cause more unrest and worry for staff they claim to want to protect.

“Lifetime protection was never agreed, neither at the ACAS meeting or any subsequent joint working group meeting.

“GMB has regularly said one thing to us and then something completely different publicly, and this disingenuous behaviour has been incredibly frustrating.

“The three recognised unions, including GMB, recognised that the offer of a four year pay protection arrangement was significant and generous compared to others that they were aware of.

“We are working hard to resolve these negotiations as we know the ongoing uncertainty isn’t easy for our staff, and this public dialogue through the media, which GMB seem keen to incite, is not helpful to say the least.”